By Robin Owens 4 days ago, Hardware
Good laptops for getting started in podcasting.
Nowadays, when the technologies are constantly developing and advertisements are becoming more and more sophisticated, a podcast becomes one of the most popular and efficient ways to address your target audience. The reports show that more than half of the US adult population listen to various podcasts regularly.
It is also known that people are more appealed to the goods and brands they heard about on podcasts. So, recording podcasts seems quite a smart idea. Here comes the necessity to get a decent laptop for recording podcasts, which allows you to process large video files, using advanced and demanding software.
The best laptop for podcasting is powerful enough, with an excellent CPU and GPU. To create podcasts, you typically use special recording software, which has rather high demands, like GarageBand, WavePad Audio Editor, Audacity, Adobe Audition, and Reaper, etc.
Below you will find a list of the laptops, which we consider the most appropriate options. Before you make a final choice, we recommend you to pay attention to the most important features of the machines described in the end. In fact, podcasting is less resource-demanding than, for example, professional video editing, so there is no need to get the most advanced and expensive laptop.
CPU: Intel Core i5 | GPU: Intel HD Graphics | RAM: 8 GB | Storage: 128GB | Display: 12-inch | Weight: 1.7 pound
⊕ Long-lasting battery
⊕ Superior screen quality
⊕ Good kickstand
⊕ USB-C port
⊖ Keyboard not included
⊖ Issues with SSD performance
Microsoft Surface Pro is a decent laptop for recording podcasts. This device is equipped with an advanced and powerful Intel processor. The display is perfect, but the greatest feature of this laptop is the built-in USB-C port. The laptop has a basic design, without any color options. If you are interested in colors, have a look at the latest Surface Pro 7 model. This laptop is very similar to the one we are describing.
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3500U | GPU: AMD Radeon Vega 8 | RAM: 8GB | Storage: 256GB | Display: 14-inch | Weight: 2.8 pound
⊕ High-end design
⊕ Fancy look
⊕ Irreproachable processor
⊕ Great input devices
⊖ Concerns with processor sleep
⊖ Mediocre battery
Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is a great laptop for recording podcasts. It has an excellent 14-inch display, an adequate keyboard, and solid construction. Considering its reasonable price, we think this machine will be a perfect choice for many podcasters. The battery life may be disappointing for some users. You may find the models with better battery or screen, but the price won’t be the same.
CPU: Intel Core i7 | GPU: Radeon Pro 5300M | RAM: 16GB | Storage: 512GB | Display: 16-inch | Weight: 4.2 pound
⊕ Performant
⊕ Excellent configurations
⊕ Outstanding display
⊖ High price
⊖ Not enough ports
⊖ Not perfect keyboard
MacBook Pro is not a budget laptop for podcasting, but it is successfully used and recommended by a lot of podcasters all over the world. It is a 16-inch compact and lightweight laptop, equipped with an enhanced keyboard (compared to the previous model), and very decent hardware. The dimensions of this ultra-book are impressive: 13,7x9,48x0,61 inches. With a weight of 4,02 pounds, it is one of the most compact yet powerful models. The keyboard looks basic and stylish and feels nice and soft when you are typing thanks to the membrane construction.
CPU: Intel Core i5 | GPU: Intel HD Graphics | RAM: 8GB | Storage: 512GB | Display: 15-inch | Weight: 4 pound
⊕ Value for money
⊕ Outstanding performance in the price range
⊕ Long-lasting battery
⊕ A decent set of ports
⊖ Only one-component configuration
⊖ Covers only 57% of sRGB
Many users believe that the best laptop for podcasting is Asus VivoBook S15. It has an outstanding 15,6-inch screen with extra thin borders. A small weight (1,7 kg) makes this machine one of the most portable models among the competitors. Such a weight is possible thanks to the design, which has almost no bezels, a lithium polymer battery, metal chassis, and the absence of the VGA port. A great advantage of this machine is the fact that it is provided with both HDD (of 2TB) and SSD (of 512 GB), making the storage really impressive (2.5 TB).
CPU: Intel Core | GPU: Intel Iris Graphics | RAM: 8GB | Storage: 256GB | Display: 13-inch | Weight: 2.96 pound
⊕ Light and portable design
⊕ Comes in a variety of colors
⊕ Irreproachable battery
⊕ Affordable price, compared to other Macs
⊖ Lack of a touchscreen
⊖ A poor selection of ports
⊖ Lack of Wi-Fi 6
If you want a podcasting Mac, but your budget is limited, have a look at MacBook Air. It is a very decent choice, even though this model is not the most advanced. We especially recommend this laptop for college and high school students. But there is a possibility that the manufacturer soon will stop producing a 13-inch model, leaving only a 12-inch one. But while it is still available, don’t lose your chance to get a capable and reasonably-priced laptop for podcasting.
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 | GPU: AMD Radeon Vega 8 | RAM: 8GB | Storage: 512GB | Display: 15-inch | Weight: 4.52 pound
⊕ Decent variety of ports
⊕ Elegant design
⊕ Excellent performance
⊖ Issues with keys
⊖ Inconvenient to use in a tablet mode
If you are looking for a reliable 15-inch convertible laptop for recording podcasts, have a look at HP Envy x360. We consider this machine an absolute value for money. It is a 2-in-1 model with a special hinge, allowing a 360-degree rotation.
This 15-inch laptop is rather heavy. If your priority is a compact size, you should opt for 13-inch convertibles. A large screen offers a set of additional options, such as, for example, using it as a tent for a presentation. You will be fully satisfied with the Envy x360’s irreproachable performance, its fancy metal design, and reasonable price. The weight of this laptop is justified by a big display. So, if you are interested in a large-screen convertible laptop for podcasting, this model will be a very good choice.
CPU: Intel Core i7-1065G7 | GPU: Intel Iris Graphics | RAM: 16GB | Storage: 512GB | Display: 13.4-inch | Weight: 2.8 pound
⊕ Stylish compact design
⊕ Enhanced touchpad
⊕ Superior 16:10 display
⊕ Thin screen borders
⊖ Irreproachable battery
⊖ High price if configured
⊖ Not enough ports
For those, who appreciate small weight and portability, there is Dell XPS 13, which will impress you with its outstanding performance and stylish design. It can be successfully used as a laptop for making YouTube videos or creating podcasts. The model is slim and lightweight, only 0,58x11,6x7,8 inches and 2,8 pounds of weight, though solid enough. Dell XPS is quite a decent example of a powerful ultraportable machine. The specifications are great, the performance is irreproachable, so we think this is one of the best options for Windows users.
CPU: Intel Core i7 | GPU: GeForce GTX 1650 | RAM: 16GB | Storage: 512GB | Display: 15-inch | Weight: 3.72 pound
⊕ Light and compact
⊕ Excellent battery
⊕ High-quality audio
⊖ Limited VRAM
⊖ Lack of Thunderbolt 3
Asus ZenBook 15 UX534FTC is another portable laptop that deserves mentioning in the list of the best laptops for editing and recording podcasts. It offers ultra-thin screen borders and an excellent keyboard. Though, gamers probably won’t be satisfied with the quality of graphics. The powerful processor ensures its irreproachable overall performance.
The laptop is equipped with a four-core Core i7-10510U processor and a GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics card. The long-lasting battery makes this machine even more attractive. Along with excellent performance, ZenBook isn’t as heavy as competitors, like ZenBook 15 UX534FT or UX533FD from the same product family, or Acer Concept 5 CN515-51, and the Apple MacBook Pro 16.
| Image | Name | Features | |
|---|---|---|---|
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Microsoft Surface Pro
Our Choice |
CHECK PRICE → | |
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Lenovo IdeaPad
Budget |
CHECK PRICE → | |
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MacBook Pro
Professional |
CHECK PRICE → |
One of the most important specifications of laptops for editing podcasts is their screen size. You are sure to spend about 3-4 hours working with one podcast, and you won’t enjoy this experience if your screen is too small. Be ready that the software, used to edit audio and video material, will take some part of screen space. The difference between what the process looks like on a desktop 23.6-inch monitor and a 13-inch laptop is significant. The size of a laptop display allows you to comfortably fit only one track, and it won’t cause any problem if you are working with one voice or person podcast. But in case you are going to add a music track or one more voice track, you won’t feel comfortable with a small screen.
If you need a really good laptop for podcasting, we recommend you to get the one with a screen not less than 15.6 inches large. Such a size allows you to feel great working in video and audio editing software. A 15-inch laptop allows you to feel great working in video and audio editing software. If you don’t have enough space on your desk for a large laptop or need to change the workplace often, you should get a compact machine. In addition, we recommend you to take an external monitor. The screen size doesn’t affect recording, but for editing, you will appreciate a bigger display. A dual-screen option brings you space and comfort you are looking for, so if you can afford it, don’t hesitate.
Another important feature of a good laptop for recording and editing podcasts is the hard drive space. All the information concerning your podcast is stored on a hard drive: logos, audio tracks, sounds, editing files, etc. As you see, you need quite a lot of disc space. You will be happy to know that nowadays the storage doesn’t cost a fortune. There are two possible storage options: a traditional hard drive (HDD), which uses the technology of physically writing on a disc, and a solid-state drive (SDD). Probably, in the nearest future, manufacturers will release only SSD laptops, as HDD is already considered an obsolete technology. The only question is the size, and we believe, the larger storage you can get, the better.
Let’s calculate. An average one-hour raw audio file takes about 350 MB. For instance, you have four speakers, which means four audio channels, and the file size can be more than 1GB! Audio effects, sounds, and music tracks are usually smaller, but we shouldn’t forget about them too. So, your laptop for podcasting either needs at least 1 TB SSD, or an additional portable drive to satisfy all your storage needs.
RAM (or a Random-access memory) is one more essential characteristic of a laptop. Its task is to store working information and machine code. In general terms, the larger RAM you have, the faster your machine works, which is especially important for processing multimedia files. The majority of multimedia software needs not less than 16GB RAM.
Working in video and audio software on a laptop with less RAM is possible, but you won’t be satisfied with the speed. You might even lose all your unsaved data, hours of work if unexpected crashing happens in the middle of the process. To avoid such a frustrating experience, we recommend equipping the machine, which you are planning to use as a laptop for recording podcasts, with at least 16GB of RAM. It may be a built-in option, or sometimes there is a possibility to upgrade the RAM.
Very often modern laptops are not provided with a sufficient amount of USB ports to make the machine more portable. A decent laptop for recording podcasts needs at least two USBs to connect microphones. Pay attention to the set of ports, as nowadays many models, especially Lenovo laptops, have only one USB port.
Selecting the best laptop for podcasting is a serious issue, which requires a thoughtful approach. Make research, define the specifications that are crucial for your needs, think about how you are planning to use the machine, check if it can support the software you are planning to install. Pay special attention to RAM and storage capacity. Choose wisely and enjoy working on your new laptop.
In case you want your laptop for podcasting to be compact and lightweight, MacBook Air is one of the greatest options. It has a very decent battery, which supports continuous work for 12 hours.
If you use Spreaker Studio, which is fully compatible with Chrome OS, you can make a Chromebook your laptop for recording and editing podcasts. This platform was designed to work with Chrome OS, especially for Chromebook users, to give them an opportunity to enjoy all the variety of tools for podcasting.
To create a podcast, you need to use dedicated software, which helps record the voices of your guests on a show. One of the most popular podcasting programs is Audacity, free for Mac and PC.
GarageBand is a popular Mac application for making music. Unfortunately, it cannot be used on a Chromebook.
